Dandelion
by Purple Shell
Summary: Reina thought no guys would ever accept her passion for plants but when Lillian, the new girl, introduced her to Cam, perhaps there is hope after all. However, without a bubbly personality like Lilian, will she able to have a proper conversation with Cam? -An attempt of Reina and Cam pairing-
1. Little Bud

_Note: I am writing this because I've seen a lot of fanfics about Lilian -the main character from Two Towns- while the other characters are being left in the dark. While I was reading topics regarding rival couples, I started to think about what the rivals feel about Lilian being their rival. And since I like Reina as a character, I decided to write this as my take on that idea. Lilian is by no mean an antagonist in the story. She's still the sweet new farmer, but Reina, who is beginning to learn what it feels like to like someone, feels a bit "threatened" by her personality that allows her to easily approach Cam._

_For those of you who wants to go away from LilianxBachelor pairing, this might be a story for you? My writing isn't perfect, but I will try to stay true to the villagers' personality as provided by the US release HM: Two Towns._

* * *

Morning had always been my favorite part of the day. When all the plants were still damp from the early dew, their gentle movement of waking up was always a treat to watch. Maybe not all could see it, but to me, it was as if they were stretching to greet the day.

"Reina, can you help me with breakfast?" Mako's voice from below snapped me out of my trance. I quickly sprayed my face with water and snatched my bandana before walking downstairs.

Mako had already prepared his favorite green tea and was enjoying warmth of the steam. It was a Wednesday and we both knew that it was the day when I get to go out to the mountain so it was no surprised that I only had time to make simple rice balls along for lunch. I set a plateful of rice balls in front of my uncle.

"What's this!? Rice balls again?!" He exclaimed in protest. Despite his scary outlook, Mako was kind at heart. I've learned to accept that his sudden outburst was just part of his character though not a dangerous one.

"It's a Wednesday. I don't want to be late." I myself was too busy making small braids to be eating the rice ball. My mom used to dress my hair this way and I've been doing it like this ever since her death. She wanted me to keep my hair long but because it always bothered me when looking at plants, she taught me how to put it up.

"Aww, couldn't you at least try to add something inside it? Umeboshi? Tuna?"

"Ugh..." I shuddered at the thought of having to deal with tuna. "Sorry, Mako. I'll make it up to you during dinner." I took a couple of the rice balls and put it in a small cloth bag before leaving the house.

"You'll need to get used to making breakfast for your husband one day!" I could hear Mako's voice as I closed the door behind me. It was just like Mako to joke about family with me. Clearly, he never took me seriously when I told him I wanted to be a botanist and spend my life studying plants like him. He simply laughed it off because he thought I was too young to be thinking about something like that.

As usual, I was lost in thoughts while walking past the town hall and Kana's shop. Kana was already letting all his horses out and paying a special attention to his favorite horse, Hayate. He had his back towards me so he didn't see me. I didn't greet him because I, for one, never liked being bothered when researching so I assumed he wouldn't like it either when concentrating on his horse. Once I exited the town gate, I could hear Sheng's hammer smashing against some metal while singing some made-up panda song. It would have been another familiar Wednesday morning if I hadn't heard running footsteps that seemed out of place.

"Morning Kana!" A cheerful voice stopped me from my walk to the mountain. I couldn't help but be curious as to who was talking to Kana so early in the morning. I was sure no one was behind me and that didn't sound like Nori no matter how cheerful she can be.

"Morning Lilian! Out already?" Kana's mentioning of her name answered a few of my questions but raised even more questions. How did Kana know this Lilian person? Where did she come from? Was she staying with Kana? I realized I was immobile for at least 10 minutes. This was bad for my research. I had been planning to watch a certain plant open up her bud when the sun touches her petals. I continued up the mountain path. This new girl had to wait. I had other important things to do.

Luckily for me, I didn't miss much because the sky was a bit cloudy at the moment. "Good morning little bud. I hope you're ready to reveal your beauty to me." As a matter of fact, I had been waiting for this particular bud to open up ever since I discovered her last season. Once she opens up, I would be able to determine what type of plant she was and I could add it to my research notes.

I was so into my thoughts that I didn't notice there was someone behind me. When a shadow covered the flower and myself, the thought of a bear went into my mind so I screamed.

And the person screamed back.

"Aaah! You scared me!" She said, falling on the grass to a similar position as me.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" I could feel my face heating up. This was our first time talking to each other and I already showed her an embarrassing side of me.

"I thought you knew. I was calling out to you earlier... You weren't answering so I went closer and..."

"Ah ... Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something." I replied, glancing back at the flower.

"I see... well," she said as she went up on her feet. She offered her hand to me and I carefully took it. "I'm Lilian. I'm new here. Just moved in this Monday."

"... Reina. I'm a botanist, someone who studies plants. Nice to meet you."

Once I said 'nice to meet you', her cautious expression broke into a smile. It seemed that she was relieved I wasn't mad at her. Well, I was until I realized I was in a trance again so I was at fault there.

"A botanist, huh? So is that what you were doing earlier?"

"Yes, I was simply trying to identify what that plant is called. Since it hasn't bloom yet I won't be able to tell until later on. The leaf itself isn't enough to state the type even though I have my suspicion already."

"Maybe you should ask Cam. He knows a lot about flowers too!"

Her bubbly reply simply caught me off guard. Cam? I didn't recall anyone in Konohana with that name and I expressed that thought to her.

"Oh, he's a florist from Bluebell. He also loves flowers so I'm sure you two will have a lot in common. I'm actually on my way over there to buy some flowers from him. I didn't have enough money yesterday to buy. Wanna come with?"

The longer I knew Lilian the longer her sentences became, it seemed. A complete opposite to myself; Lilian's light brown hair glistened under the peeping sun and her cheeks were red from excitement. For some reason, I felt like becoming a mimosa plant so I could curl up and hide.

"I ... prefer the company of plants than people..." I blurted.

Lilian's smile turned apologetic as she backed off. She let out a nervous laughter and was clearly uncomfortable. "Right... sorry, I was being... sudden. Sure. You were busy. I'm sure. I'll... maybe some other time."

Busy? Perhaps. It was my day off from researching in my room but… was I really busy? "Yeah. I need to study the plants..."

With a last weak smile, Lilian continued her journey to the other side of the mountain. Once she was gone I sat back to where my current obsession was. As usual, I began to speak out loud to it. "Bluebell has been enemies with Konohana for a while now, you know? Why was she talking about them so casually? Perhaps she's too new to notice it? I highly doubt this ... Cam guy would talk to me." My fingers idly traced the sharp edges of the leaves.

I laughed to myself as I imagine Mako being similar to this plant. From the outside he looked rugged and dangerous but he was actually soft and kind just like the leaves of this plant; sharp looking but soft and gentle against my fingers.

########################################

My whole mountain trip did not give me new findings. The plant didn't bloom so I came home empty handed. I wasn't in a good mood when I arrived home. Mako was too busy in his orchard to notice me coming home but the sight of him reminded me of the dinner I promised to make. Soon my mind was caught up with food to be thinking about other things.

In the middle of making miso soup, I heard a muffled conversation outside although I could clearly hear what my loud uncle was saying.

"Oh! Hello Lilian! Have you business with me?"

A muffled voice replied to him that surely came from Lilian. So even Mako met her already, I thought to myself. I wasn't surprised. I never really left the house when I work. I must've missed her the past 2 days.

"I believe she is inside. She's supposed to be preparing dinner that I hope is BETTER THAN BREAKFAST!" He shouted the last part for me to hear. It was not at all necessary.

The muffled reply was soon followed by a knock on the door. I called out to her to enter and Lilian's head poked in behind the door. Her smile has returned to her face and she went inside the house with a suspicious hand constantly behind her back.

"What're you making?"

"Miso soup with okonomiyaki." I replied while tasting a bit of the soup.

"Okoni-what?"

"O-ko-no-mi-ya-ki." I said to her a bit slower. I couldn't help but smile at her surprised face. "It's simply a fried dish where you mix flour with cabbage and fry it with oil. Of course you can add egg with it but Mako doesn't really like egg so the flavor is pretty bland."

"I see.. It looks good though."

"It tastes better when Mako's being annoying because I would add egg to annoy him." When I chuckle at the memory, she appeared to be a bit relaxed and took out what she was hiding behind her back this whole time. It was a flower.

"Here. I bought you a Mar..Marge… Margerit?"

I stared at the beautiful white flower in shock. "M-marguerite…" I exhaled in disbelief.

"Yes! That's the name." She said as she handed the flower to me.

"Where did you get this? I don't see this kind of flower in Konohana often."

"Cam was selling some flowers over at Bluebell and since you were into flowers, I decided to buy one for you. Do you like it?"

"Yes! This is a great addition to my research. I have to keep this fresh though. I'll need to put this in a vase. Or maybe try to extract a seed? Or perhaps dry it to trace the shape and then take a little piece of it to see under the microscope but then the living cells might be dead already and ... oh!"

Lilian was intently staring at me as I mutter to myself like a fool. Twice already today she saw me acting weird. She probably thought I was a funny person.

"You're funny, Reina." She laughed. I knew it. Well, at least she was being honest ... though listening to her laughter made me realize that she didn't think of it as a bad thing. "I guess I know what to bring you next time I visit Bluebell. Actually, I was going to buy a couple of seeds to plant in my farm but the flower was a bit more expensive than I thought so the next time I buy seeds, I'll give one to you."

"H-how much was this? I can pay you back. You can go back and buy your seeds."

"Don't worry about it. It's a gift after all and Cam's probably closed shop already. He closes at 5pm and it's," she glanced at her watch, "too late to go back there."

"Then, at least let me repay you with dinner." I pulled out a chair. "You were just talking about how tasty the okonomiyaki looked. You've never had one before, right?"

This offer perked Lilian's interest. I saw her gulped with interest but before I could tempt her even further, she shook her head violently and smiled her thanks.

"I have to go water my plants. It's probably dry by now. Maybe some other time."

With that, she exited and left me with my newfound Marguerite. I turned off the fire and ran upstairs to sit in my worktable. I carefully placed the flower under the microscope and took notes of its beauty.

'_Wow, this flower was grown well. It seemed to have earned the perfect amount of water and sun to be able to bloom beautifully like this. The petals are quite similar to the chamomiles I've been studying. Perhaps this can work as a herb? I read somewhere that flowers can be eaten but…'_

I was soon so entranced with my research that I didn't realized Mako had went home from his trip to Town Hall and finished all the food. But with a new flower on my table, I didn't feel hungry at all. This Lilian girl wasn't so bad after all. And this Cam guy she was talking about? I might want to visit him after all.

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**AN:  
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UPDATED ever so slightly after getting feedback from **Buttersketch**. Thanks for the reviews :) It helps!


	2. Meet the florist

The next morning, I was determined to witness the flower's blooming. After quickly preparing my breakfast, I made my way to the mountain path and, because of my marguerite, I was in such a good mood that I even said good morning to Kana and hummed along to Sheng's silly song. Once I reached my spot, I greeted the shy bud with enthusiasm.

"Good morning. Are you feeling like blooming today? The sun is out and the weather is nice and warm. It's a perfect day to bloom." I lowered myself so that I was lying on my stomach; my reason being that the bud might be intimidated if she saw me hovering above her. As I patiently waited for the flower, I smiled as I hummed a soft melody. If pregnant women listened to classic music for their babies, why not plants too?

Not long after, I felt a rumble on the ground and I heard the galloping of a horse. '_Kana?'_ I thought to myself as my brows furrowed. I knew that he had lessened his time riding Hayate ever since he found out that she was getting sick with age. However, I could think of no one else that would be riding a horse across the mountain. Kana _was _known to get carried away.

The speed was too fast for comfort so I grumpily pushed myself up and jumped closer to the mountain path to yell at Kana only to see Lilian mounting a white pony. Her hair was pushed back by the wind and, despite the speed, her violet eyes was busy looking around presumably searching for something instead of watching where she was going. When she saw me, she called out my name with such volume that I flinched.

"Reina!" Without stopping properly, she jumped off her horse and darted towards me. I had to admire her overflowing energy but I was not at all impressed by her carelessness.

"...Going somewhere?" I asked her with my hands folded in front of my chest.

"I had a feeling you'd be here." She said as she breathed heavily; cheeks flushed. "I brought my horse with me so it'll be easier for us to hike up the mountain."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I know it's too early to visit his shop but I thought we'd catch him before he's too busy with his customers."

As I slowly blinked my eyes again, I began to understand what she was implying. The thought of barging into Bluebell on a horse did not sit well with my breakfast. It would probably not sit well with the people in Bluebell either. "Ah... I think I'll pass."

She pouted. "But the horse... it's faster and..."

"Reckless. You could get into an accident."

"Well...that's just...hahaha..." Lilian let out a guilty laughter that led me to suspect she had been in one recently. I eyed her and she cleared her throat to appear serious again.

"Um, since you ruined my plan to visit Cam, then let's just eat breakfast here then."

Lilian continued to surprise me when she walked back to her old cart and pulled out two bowls of turnip salad. She handed one to me and sat down on the edge of mountain path. "I hope you don't mind turnip salad. I harvested these recently. They taste pretty good."

Dumbstruck, I sat next to Lilian and looked down at my bowl. The cut wasn't perfect. The quality was probably of a 2 star rank. Pierre would probably think this was okay but the fact that she made this for me made the salad taste much better than the ones I've had, ever.

"...thanks for this..." I mumbled. Lilian flashed me her smile and we both sat there in silence except for the crunchy turnip noises in our mouth. Despite having had breakfast, the lightness of the salad allowed me to finish the dish without any problem. It felt a bit awkward that we weren't talking so I racked my brain for anything that would be a common interest between us and since she was new to the farming business, I thought I'd give her tips she would need.

"Did you know that you could find all sorts of things in the mountain? If you know where to look, you can find useful plants that you can use for cooking or gifting people." I explained as I pointed to a crack between rocks behind the waterfalls below. "If you look over there, you can find plants like mints or flowers. Though you'd most likely find nothing but rocks and branches, they're pretty useful for research too. Who knows what type of organism that sticks to rocks that are found only in certain locations."

"Really? I never knew that." Lilian listened with interest. She put back the now empty bowls in the cart while still looking to my direction.

"Yeah. Some flower and nuts can be found in tree stumps too. Whenever you find a place that you think you can forage, go close to it and perhaps you'll find some useful materials. I personally love mushrooms. They seem so soft and weak yet they can survive in places that doesn't need a lot of sunlight."

"I'll give that a try. Thanks, Reina."

Lilian patted her bottom clean from the grass that were stuck to it and continued on her journey to Bluebell. She told me to visit there before she had to go back to Konohana so she could show me around the place. I told her it would depend on the progress of my research.

To be honest, I didn't really mind going to Bluebell. I always thought that the whole competition between towns was stupid. Though I had never gone deep into Bluebell mountain area, I noticed a couple of new plants growing there during the cooking festival I would occasionally attend.

'_Ah! Cam... yes, I remember now.' _Speaking of cooking festivals, I recalled someone from Bluebell with that name that attended. He didn't talk a lot but that was probably because the large man he was with was constantly praising his cooking that he felt too embarrassed to say anything. I didn't know that he was a florist. I thought they were all into animals and cheese.

I was starting to feel curious and as I turned to the little bud, I announced to her that I would take a little unplanned trip to Bluebell mountain area - for research purpose, of course. From the first step downhill, I was already amazed by the diversity of plants that were all around me. I could see a few budding Gerbera; some of them were yellow, some were orange.

As I felt my heart pounding with excitement, I walked even further down to see more plants. I made sure I took a sample for each flower species that I saw. They even had mint growing around too and I was always fond of mint to be eaten with my herb salad.

Soon I reached an open area with a shallow river much like the entrance of Konohana mountain area and on the other side of the river, I saw a man standing there. _Speak of the devil._ I didn't get a good look at him during the competition but now that no one was around, I took this as a chance for me to study him. He was wearing a purple hat that matched his vest. His shirt was accompanied with a pale yellow tie that was slanted and uneven. I wasn't able to look at his eyes since it was hidden behind his golden hair so I took a step closer.

The faint noise from the grass below me caused him to look up and my eyes caught the sight of the most beautiful green topaz eyes I'd ever seen. My body froze and I couldn't move or look away from his gaze. I knew it was too late to run away and I wouldn't be able to justify my action if I had done so. So I did nothing. I kept on staring back.

So did he.

I wasn't sure what kept him from looking away, but as I began to feel my face heating up I hoped someone would pop in and break the awkward silence between us. Who better to do that than the cheerful Lilian herself.

"Reina!" Perhaps I was too entranced by Cam's eyes, but I certainly did not hear Lilian or her horse approaching me. Suddenly she was already running towards me. I tore away my gaze from Cam and was about to excuse myself when Lilian began to drag me closer to him. Her strength was surprising, considering that she was quite small. Perhaps being a farmer wasn't a bad choice for her after all.

"Cam, this is the girl I was telling you about." Lilian placed me in front of Cam so unexpectedly I didn't have time to process what to do. Even Cam was shocked at Lilian's sudden shove that he took a step backwards before gentlemanly offered his hand for a quick shake.

Hastily, I shook his hand. I tried to concern myself with the plant sample that I was holding. "I'm Reina. I'm a botanist." I said, keeping my introduction short and curt so I could get out of there fast.

"So I heard." Cam replied, his voice sounded amused. "I'm Cam. A florist."

"I ... heard." I replied, still busying myself with the plants.

"It's a good thing you came, it's Cam's day off today so he's completely free to talk. I told Cam how excited you were when I gave you the margite flower yesterday-"

"Marguerite." I absently corrected her midsentence. This brought a slight interested smile in Cam's face.

"-and he was saying that the next time you're here, he'll give you a flower for free because he appreciates people that love flower."

It was clear that both Cam and I weren't good with people because - once Lilian finished talking - none of us uttered a word. I was too busy being embarrassed by what Lilian revealed about myself and Cam was probably too busy trying not to laugh at me. He gave a nod that I copied back when I dared to look at him.

"That's... weird." Lilian's voice disappointed. "I imagined that you two would start chatting about flowers right away... Where did it go wrong?"

Cam laughed a handsome sounding laugh showing a warmer expression that added another red shade to my face. "Not everyone is open to meeting new people like you, Lilian. Some people need time." He sent an apologetic smile at me and I awkwardly smiled back.

"I guess you're right... well... I'm heading back to Konohana. See ya, Cam."

I opened my mouth to stop her but Lilian was already walking towards her carriage. Being left alone with Cam like that erased all sorts of proper conversation skills I'd learned. I looked at Cam while desperately searching for something to say. He seemed to notice my discomfort.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I'm fine by myself."

Without saying anything else, I gave him a short bow before chasing Lilian who was already mounting her horse.

Lilian allowed me to ride her carriage all the way to Mako's house and I soon busied myself with self-inflicting pain to punish myself for being stupid. My forehead soon became red from the repeating impact against the table surface.

"It's so much easier talking to plants." I sighed.

I couldn't figure out why I had problems talking to Cam. He was a florist for Harvest Goddess' sake! Surely he would appreciate my passion and I even had questions prepared in my head regarding the Marguerite. I would start off by complimenting him on his meticulous care for the flower and would ask how he'd done so. I laughed at myself, "Oh now I can have a perfectly decent conversation with him in my head."

He wasn't the first stranger I encountered. Usually I would be able to introduce myself pretty easily to people. Even with Lilian I was able to pull myself together after screaming like a weirdo. I could talk normally to Kana and Hiro, or even the musicians that came by during Fall festival. Why not Cam?

I decided to take a test and walked to Yun's Tea House. It was a Friday so Kana was likely to be there to spend most of his afternoon. Sure enough, after greeting Yun and her granddaughter, I noticed Kana eating some type of curry.

"Hey Kana." I said. No problem there.

"Whoah! What's up Reina? That's rare for you to be here. Got something you need from me?" Kana asked with his mouth full of curry.

"Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you. I'm ... testing something."

"One of your research, huh? Awesome!" He grinned. This ponytailed man somehow reminded me of Lilian for being always full of energy no matter what time of day it was.

"Something like that. Can I ask you something?" I slowly put my words together, calculating how direct I should ask Kana about my problem.

"Shoot."

"Have you ever...have you ever been nervous around someone? A complete stranger, not someone you know."

At this question, I noticed how Kana blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I've been nervous, but with someone I know."

"Really?" That was a new discovery. I never knew Kana, a man full of confidence, would be lost for words around someone.

"Yeah. I end up saying things I didn't mean so we fight a lot when we meet. So uncool, huh?" Kana grinned with his cheeks still red.

"Interesting." I pondered. "So nervousness leads to doing the exact opposite of what we want to."

"Yup. Totally."

"What this?" A woman's voice chipped in and the chair next to me was pulled to have Dr. Ayame sit on it. She was munching on a dumpling while her eyes stared at me intensely. Dr. Ayame was known to be a teaser from the stories that Hiro told people so I knew how dangerous it would be if she was to be part of this conversation.

"Reina's doing a research." Kana answered.

"Interesting. About what?" She turned towards me and I could see her eyes sparkling with glee. I blushed at the sudden feeling of self-conscious.

"It's nothing. I have it all figured out already." I was about to leave the chair when Dr. Ayame took my hand and leaned closer as if to beg me not to go.

"Are you sure? I may be able to give advice as a doctor." She winked. "I can read you like a book, you know. I know what you're thinking."

Flustered, I struggled to find words to reply but Kana took this time to be generous with explanation.

"She was asking about whether or not I've been nervous around a stranger. Told her I have. What about you, Ayame?"

"I see." Dr. Ayame was looking at me with a knowing look as she began to rub her chin in order to think. "I know my adorable apprentice gets nervous a lot and he ends up making wrong diagnoses. He'd get all depressed soon afterwards and starts wallowing with guilt and low self-esteem. But that's just Hiro! Who, may I ask, is causing you to be nervous, Reina?"

Without the help of Dr. Ayame, Kana probably wouldn't have realized that there was another intention behind this question, but now he too was interested to know. I tried to remain professional.

"It's not me..." I tried saying but the two eager Konohanians were not convinced by it. "It's... well, I was nervous ...because..."

"Good afternoon Yun!" Lilian's voice suddenly filled the whole tea house that nearly made me jump. Again, she saved me from another pickled radish situation that I was in. "Lilian..." I completed my sentence without a second thought.

"Hmm..." Now both of my listeners were studying Lilian. I let out a sigh of relief.

"She does have a way of making you feel something. Usually joy, but I can see how you can get nervous around her. Perhaps it's the energy of youth?"

"She's just ALWAYS stoked! I connect with her pretty easily."

"Aw, I can see you two making a sweet couple. Always full of energy."

"Wh-what?! Naw, we're just friends." It was Kana's turn to be the victim of Dr. Ayame's teasing. I took this opportunity to excuse myself from the tea house and looked for save haven which, to me, was Nori's house.

"It sounds like you have feelings for someone." Nori giggled after I explained my situation to her.

"W-what?" I was in Nori's dinning room almost choking on the matcha tea she served for me. "How did you reach to that conclusion?!"

"Because it happens to everyone. My grandfather, for example, always tries to pull a prank on Yun but that's because he secretly likes her."

"How..."

"I heard him mumble when he works and he would pretend to be asking Yun out for a date. It's really a sweet thing." We both smiled at the thought of Gombe stuttering with embarrassment. I always thought that if there was someone who could ask a person out with no problem whatsoever, it would've been Gombe seeing that he would always challenge people to have races with him.

"Love just changes people. You'd be surprised."

"I am...," I said as my head slowly process what she said, "...but! No! I don't love him! We never spend long enough time for me to start liking him. Even when I saw him in the cooking festival, I didn't think much of him so... this nervousness, I'm sure it's because of something else."

Nori sat quiet for a bit before she smiled her sweet smile. "So, he's from Bluebell, huh?"

"..." I realized that I had given her too much information.

"Why don't you visit him again? If, as you claim, you don't have feelings for him, then everything should go well. Perhaps you were nervous because you were put on the spot at the time."

"...That makes sense."

"Treat this as one of your experiments. You'll find the answer soon enough."

Nori encouraged me by patting me on the head. She always treated me like a younger sister even though our age wasn't that far away. I didn't really mind though because she had a certain maturity about her. After finishing our tea, I chatted a bit about how I should approach this new experiment and parted ways in search for Lilian. Apparently Lilian was just done talking with Hiro outside of Nori's house.

"So, when did you say is Cam's day off?" I asked Lilian; determined to start over.

* * *

**Note:**

Here's the second chapter for Dandelion. (You'll figure out why it's called dandelion in later chapter...s)

I wanted to take things slow with Reina's relationship with Cam but for sure, there will be more Cam and Reina interaction in the next chapter. I'm excited to write that!

I also tried to add other villagers in the story so they won't be left behind. I put in rival pairings within the story and some hinted pairings between other villagers by the game itself. Hopefully the characters are not that far off because despite being a fanfic, I still want to stay true with most of the details within the game. I may have to bend that rule later on in some chapters if needed... hmm...

Anyway, I hope you like the story so far. Let me know what you think, please?

I'll update soon!


	3. Dropping by Bluebell

After celebrating Mako's birthday on a Saturday morning, I went to Town Hall to do more research about the new samples I got including the Marguerite. I learned of its requirements to grow, its color variety, its habitat and with each discoveries, I became more amazed by how Cam was able to make it bloom into a fine flower.

I attended the cooking festival hoping to see him but he wasn't around. Nori—who also attended—seemed to know my intention so she asked some Bluebellers and was told that Cam was at home experimenting for a new product. Howard, the man I'd seen talking to Cam before, was the one who provided with this information.

"Apparently they live together," Nori explained, "but they're not related. Also, Cam leaves town every Monday to re-stock his flowers supply." I took a mental note.

On Monday I helped Mako develop some new fertilizer that he insisted would win him an award. Lilian came by to give us some required materials that he requested and us three had dinner together. She said she constantly visited Cam and chatted with him about me. At some point she gave me a Marguerite seed to plant, as promised. I insisted on paying back but she said it was given for free by Cam.

During the Cherry Festival, I sat next to Nori while enjoying the view of the cherry blossom. I couldn't help but wonder if Bluebell also had cherry blossoms growing there. Maybe Cam would like to see this festival.

"What're you thinking about?" Nori whispered close to me. Her smile told me that she knew something just from the look in my face.

"I can never try to hide anything from you."

"You weren't exactly hiding it and I wasn't exactly implying anything. It was really an honest question." She giggled with her hand covering her smile. There were times when I wished I was as graceful as Nori but she simply told me that she was jealous of _me_ for being able to get angry without being out of place. She then gave me a hard smack on the back; catching me off guard. With her usual smile she said, _"See? If I were to do that, people would be shocked. It's too bad because sometimes I wish I can just hit people when they irk me." _We both laughed and had gotten close since.

"If people really know how sly you really are..."

"Then you wouldn't be my special friend who is the _only _one that knows that secret."

"Great weather today for our cherry blossom festival!" Mayor Ina announced. She was—in her term—bright eyed and bushy tailed ever since this morning. Even though Gombe portrayed the most excitement during festivals, we all knew that the mayor was the one who enjoyed it the most.

"Enjoy the beautiful sight and the great food to feast on!" She continued as she tapped Lilian's shoulder. People usually brought food along for the festival and this year Lilian made bamboo dumpling that she learned all by herself. She seemed to have a knack on learning new recipes.

"I'm glad to see the cherry blossoms blooming so vibrantly this year." I said with a dumpling in one hand.

"Aren't they beautiful? Plus, Lilian's cooking is delicious! _*chomp_*" Nori took a bite off my dumpling. I knuckled her head.

"Yeah! Not bad for your first time!" Kana gobbled up another part of my dumpling. I knuckled his head.

"As a fellow recipe concocter, I would like to congratulate you on your achievement. Perhaps we can spare time to create new recipes together." Hiro, knuckled-free, was happily sipping his tea while eating his own dumplings.

"Thanks guys. To be honest, Yun's been giving me great advice every time I visit her in her teahouse. The chef in Bluebell also gave me some pointers."

"Bah! Bluebell has no idea how to make a dish! Let's leave them out of this wonderful day we're having." Ina waved her fist full of hate. She then walked to where the rest of the villagers were; mumbling about the stupidity of Bluebell's arrogant mayor.

"If only they stop this stupid fighting things would be so much easier." I exhaled. Noticing Nori's knowing smile, I nudged her sides.

"How do you suppose we achieve that?" Hiro asked.

"Well..." Lilian began to answer, slightly unsure. "The Harvest Goddess said..."

The conversation stopped and all heads turned to Lilian. We were thinking the same thing: _'Did she say Harvest Goddess?'_ It must've had intimidated her so she didn't continue her sentence and we celebrated the rest of the day without anyone mentioning the Harvest Goddess again. Poor Lilian.

* * *

"So you're doing this?" I dropped by Nori's house before going on my usual round to the mountain, only this time I would also be visiting Bluebell.

"I brought a peace offering." I told her as I showed the lavender that was neatly placed in my bag. Nori giggled.

"Good luck, then."

I exited the town later than usual and Kana had already opened his shop. At the spring on top of the mountain, I threw a mint and wished that I would not embarrass myself today. I wasn't one to believe in superstition, but Mako told me that there really was a Harvest Goddess and that I should respect her dwelling.

Once I reached the familiar low area of Bluebell, my heart began to thump faster. My walking pace became slower as I carefully entered the town's gate, passing by the church. The site of the flowers that decorated the area made me feel calmer. We never had beautiful flowers that grew like this in Konohana. Everyone was too keen on growing crops for food while here, I could tell, that they were keen on animals. The first two houses I saw had a large pasture. The one on the right was similar to Kana's place because it had horses running around.

There was also a girl with wavy brown hair who was brushing one of the horses there. She noticed me looking at her and waved.

"Howdy! Here to shop, are ya?" She said with a loud voice that had probably informed people of my arrival here.

"I'm...here to..." I stopped myself mid-sentence. I wasn't sure if telling her that I was on my way to see Cam a good idea. What would Cam think if he knew I purposely came here for him? Surely he wouldn't be suspicious about it, right? Was there even _anything_ to be suspicious of?

I gently slapped my cheeks to calm myself. _'Focus. You're here to prove a theory. Nothing wrong with that.' _I told myself. The girl was still waiting for my answer so I told her I was here to buy flowers. That felt like a better answer than looking for Cam.

She offered to bring me where Cam's flower shop was. I walked next to her, horrified that this would bring more attention to me than if I were to walk alone. This feeling was due to her loud voice that accompanied us while we walked across the stone-floored square.

"We rarely get Konohana people come round here," she said when I told her my background. "Well, except for Lilian. I assume you know her? She'd visit everybody here and would give flowers to people, especially Cam 'cause he likes 'em."

"Oh..." Suddenly my bag felt heavy. Presenting him lavender didn't feel like a good idea anymore.

"Here we are! Cam, you got customer!"

At the back of a small stall decorated with pots and flowers, I recognized Cam's purple-based outfit. His attention was to the flowers and as soon as his name was called, he turned around. He wiped the sweat underneath his chin and I could see that his hands were covered in soil.

"Ah. Thanks Georgia. I'll take it from here." He replied with a smile.

"Yup. I'd best go back to my horses anyway. See ya around, um..."

"Her name's Reina. Shouldn't you know that already before bringing her here?" Cam answered Georgia before I could. The sound of my name in his voice sent a tingling feeling in my ear. I immediately looked down.

"Whoops! My bad. See ya around then, Reina."

She was soon gone and I was left alone with Cam. My heart was pounding too much and I became suddenly aware of the small movements I was doing. Slowly, I walked closer to Cam's stall and tried to focus.

"Please excuse my dirty hand. I was adding fertilizers to some of the flowers." He explained while wiping his hands with a cloth. "So, welcome to Cam's flower shop. What can I get you?"

I forced myself to meet his eyes. "I'm here to ... I have something for you ... but it seems like you wouldn't need any additional flowers. Please forgive my foolishness."

"A gift?" He asked; his eyes fixed on mine.

"Yes. As a thank you for the flower seed."

"Ah. Yes, that was my way of apologizing for the incident the other day. It seemed that I made you feel uncomfortable."

"No. It's completely my fault. I was...not prepared." I felt my face heating up. In order to hide it I quickly fished out the lavender and offered it Cam.

"That's for me? Wow, that's really nice of you. I don't have lavender growing this season so it's always nice to have people giving me one."

He took the lavender from my hand and my hand froze when I felt his skin against mine. "Ahh ... you're ... you're saying people give you ... lavender...often a lot?" I wanted to slap myself for my sudden lack of communication skill. If Nori was here, she would be laughing at me.

"Actually it's just one other person. Lilian, your friend, gave me lavender once. She said she got it from you. That's when we started talking about you. She seems to be very impressed by you."

"There's nothing to be impressed about..." I mumbled incoherently. "You two ... talk often?"

"Quite a few times. Last time we talked about how to make herb salad. I'm not a great cook myself so it was nice to learn a new recipe."

"I see..." Somewhere in my heart, I didn't like listening to Cam talking about Lilian. My mood seemed to go down and I no longer felt like I could say anything interesting anymore.

"So..." I could see Cam shifted uncomfortably and adjusted his hat. "How's the flower I gave you?"

"It had just sprouted. According to my research it should bloom in the next few days. It said that watering twice a day will help speed up the process but I worry that it might cause an imbalance between the amount of sun and water it gets." I answered with my botanist mode on.

"Marguerite does need a lot of sun to grow but they do well in cold temperature that you can get during night time. You can still water them to keep them humid just make sure that the soil are nice and lose so the water can simply pass by without being absorbed too much."

"I see. Is that your method?" I took out my notebook and began scribbling things down.

"That and ... well I ..." Cam scratched the back of his head and his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I also talk to them. Flowers usually bloom well when you tell them they're beautiful."

"Really? Me too!" I beamed. "People usually find it weird that I do so, but there has been research that proves how effective it is to talk to plants. I myself used music before to help enhance growth. It's quite hard to track on this theory because the radio plays music only at a certain time."

"Music, huh? I never thought of doing that before. You're pretty amazing to be able to figure out something like this." He laughed.

If my eyes could deceive me, I would be seeing flowers forming an arc above Cam's head. He was finally showing me the smile he showed to Lilian and Georgia earlier. That might not mean that I was special, but at least I was one of them. I slowly began to feel more confident with myself.

"I read about how people listen to music during their pregnancy to enhance the baby's development. I theorized myself that perhaps it would work well with plants."

We began to emerge ourselves in exchanging theories on how best to grow flowers and plants in general. Cam shared what he knew about flowers while I shared what I knew about green plants and trees. I explained the different fruit trees we would have in Konohana and the different dishes we got to make out of it. He explained how flowers are edible.

"That's interesting. How did you find this discovery?"

Cam was about to answer when, from the nearby house, a girl exited the place. She had her blond hair tied up in a bun, a red cardigan worn over her white shirt and apron. Her gracefulness reminded me of Nori and she was indeed a picture of beauty.

"Well, it's rare to see you chatting this long with a customer, Cam." She said with a smile. Cam didn't answer and instead he simply blushed. "Hi. I'm Laney. Nice to meet you."

"My name is Reina. I'm a botanist from Konohana."

"A botanist? No wonder you two have been at it for hours."

"What time is it?" Cam asked.

"Almost time to close shop." Laney pointed at the sky. I could see hints of orange mixing with the blue.

"Oh. I have to go soon. I still need to check up on a flower." I said, excusing myself.

"Your marguerite?" Cam asked as he busied himself with emptying his stall.

"No. It's a wild flower I found in the mountain. I've been waiting for it to bloom so I can identify it." I called out my answer. I rushed to the exit of the town without waiting for Cam to reply. Faintly, from one of the pastures, I could hear a boy's voice saying Lilian's name and I was able to catch a glimpse of Lilian's blue-based outfit that Mayor Ina gave her.

Throughout the hiking trip I was busy thinking about the plant that once I arrived there, I let all the emotion wash over me. I touched my cheeks that were red both from the hiking and the fact that I got to talk to Cam. My lips curled into a smile and I looked at the plant with glee.

"I talked to him. I really had a conversation with Cam." I told the listening flower. "Oh, why can't I stop grinning? Nori can_not _see me like this."

I lied on the green grass by the bud and allowed myself to be calmed by the nature around me. The wind made the high grass danced and tickled me as if congratulating me. I thanked them and soon made my way back to report in.

Nori was no longer outside by her field anymore so I made my way inside the house after greeting Gombe who was complaining about how the day ended too soon. As a good granddaughter, Nori was busy preparing dinner. She greeted me with her usual smile and offered me a seat.

"I am happy to report that I was able to talk to him without any problem."

"Is that so? From the very beginning?"

"Well, no...I was still nervous at first. I had a hard time looking at him straight in the eyes and I almost lost interest when he was talking about Lilian," I began to smile as I relived the memories, "but then we somehow got to talk about plants and things became better. He even mentioned that he talks to his flowers...and then came this girl."

"What girl?" Nori asked in the middle of making her curry.

"She said her name was Laney. She commented on how we two were chatting non-stop and Cam just...blushed. I'm not surprised, though. She _was _very pretty—just like you—but with blond hair. Heck, all the girls there are pretty. There was another girl named Georgia and she was pretty too, with her wavy brown hair and her pretty accent. Cam can possibly be in love with any of them." I rested my head on my hand; unmotivated.

"Wow, this is the first time I've heard you being jealous, Reina." Nori giggled.

"What do you mean?"

"It's already a first for you to be talking about boys, and now you're jealous that you have competition." Nori brought the hot curry plate on the table and sat across me. She stared at me with a stern look. "Reina, did Cam cause you to feel like going through a sudden seasonal change?"

To be honest, that was the first time I heard that expression but I understood what she meant. And to be honest, I believed that the answer to that was: "Yes."

"Then, my dear, you're on the first step towards falling in love."

* * *

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**Author's Note  
**

**#########  
**

****Third chapter to Dandelion! Hooray! Thanks for those of you who are following this story, and for those who reviewed. Hopefully this chapter satisfied your cravings for a good ReinaxCam. I made Reina's conversation about plants and how she appreciates Cam's habit to talk to flowers as a good answer to a made-up Cam's flower event. I think the rest of the "flower events" I'll be making for them won't be accompanied with the flower arc description but I just that one there to explain that there are flower events in this story.

When Nori asked Reina if she went through "sudden seasonal change", I was referring to the term "roller coaster of emotion" but since Harvest Moon isn't set during the time where roller coaster exist (I assume), I made up a new term that is more farm-related.

Leave a review/comment to let me know if you like how the story is going.. Let me know how I can improve!

Thanks for reading!


	4. Sudden Visit

That night, I returned home so flustered that made Mako suspect that I was having a fever. The revelation that Nori gave me did not make sense to me at first. She had to go through all of my feelings and explained why I felt that way. I was pretty much in a daze as I went through my daily schedule the next day that I accidentally brought the marguerite flower with me instead of my bag. By the time I realized it, I was already at my favorite spot in the mountain.

"What's wrong with me, Marguerite? I promised myself not to care about guys but now... It's not a bad thing probably but..." The sprout didn't answer nor gave me any advice so I placed it next to my mountain bud and, to my surprise, it had bloomed.

"You're...!" I bent my head low to examine it close. It was the most I could do since, without my bag, I didn't have my magnifying glass with me.

"Wow... so this is what you look like." I was in awe as I traced its yellow petal with my fingers. I'd seen flowers with plenty of petals but this one had -what seemed to be- hundreds of tiny petals that combined together to make a beautiful yellow fluff of a flower. I gently tugged on one of the petals to see how fragile it was. It stuck to the core pretty strongly.

With a newfound excitement, I rushed back to the house to get my notes. I gave a quick greet to Kana and the mayor's son, Rahi. People always commented on how mature he was for his age and I was those that agreed. I believed that Konohana would have another great mayor.

"Morning, Reina. What's the rush?" He asked with his warm smile.

"I found a new discovery!" I replied his smile back.

Once I reached my study room, I quickly grabbed all the equipments I considered useful. As I was about to leave, I saw my stack of lavender and after deciding to ignore the blush that began to show on my face, I grabbed the lavender and shoved it into my bag.

I was used to doing sketches. That was somewhat a requirement for my study, so it didn't take long for me to finish my first sketch of the flower. Soon my notebook was full of charts and diagrams. As usual I didn't notice that someone was next to me until a shadow covered my light.

"Lilian, didn't I tell you not to sneak up on me." I shifted aside to get better light without looking up so I wouldn't forget what I was writing about.

"Sorry, I just didn't want to bother you." Said a voice that was apparently not Lilian's. I knew that voice and suddenly all my thoughts were replaced by a name:

"...Cam?"

"Hi." He sat down beside me with his usual thin smile. "It's my day off today, and since you visited me on your day off..." He gave an unsure shrug. I, too, was unsure what to make of this gesture.

"I see you're doing sketches on the dandelion." He remarked as he peeked at my notebook.

"You know this flower?" I sat up straight and gave him a better view of the flower in front of me.

"I know most flowers. That's why I'm the florist." Cam, with a slight chuckle, scooted closer to the dandelion, which also meant closer to me. "Oh, you even brought the marguerite here today."

There was no way I would explain the real reason why I brought it here. "Yes. Since you mentioned about humidity yesterday, I figured the temperature here would be good."

"Perhaps you're right. May I?" Cam asked for the notebook and I gladly handed it to him; trying my best not to brush against his hands. There was a few seconds of silence between us while Cam read through my notes. Suddenly I became embarrassed with what I'd written.

"Wow! You figured out all of these with just observation?"

"Y-yes...?" I had to admit I was surprised.

"I could learn a thing or two from you. I've been studying plants all my life but this..." He flipped through the other pages in the notebook.

"Oh, not all of them are from my own observation. My uncle, he's also a botanist, gave a lot of good notes since he's been at it for years now. Perhaps you'd like to meet him?"

Cam looked up from my notebook and we stared at each other. I suddenly felt stupid for even suggesting the idea. Of course he wouldn't want to go to my place. He barely even knew me!

"One day... Perhaps you'd like to meet him one day..." I attempted to save myself, "...is what I meant to say." I wasn't sure how my face looked, but I tried my best not to look, well, foolish.

Cam cleared his throat, noticing the sudden awkwardness between us. "Sorry. I was just...It'll be my first time to visit Konohana. I was just a bit worried."

I was about to reply when Cam suddenly stood up and offered his hand to assist me.

"But I wouldn't be a man if I wasn't as brave as you and Lilian coming to Bluebell all by yourselves, huh?"

Right. Lilian. How could I had forgotten her? I took Cam's hand and—despite secretly wanting to keep holding it—began to stuff all my equipments into my bag when I noticed the lavender that I put there. Trying to act natural, I _casually _took the lavender and _casually _offered it to him after muttering an excuse about yesterday's herb salad topic. If Cam did see past my actual intention, he was being nice about not letting me know.

As we made our way to Mako's house, we met the two Konohana children talking together by the Tea House. Knowing that Cam wasn't a people person, I didn't bother introducing them properly.

"Those two seem to be close friends." He commented after I explained who they were.

"Probably because they're the only children in town. They don't really have a choice but to play with each other."

"Make sense. We only have 1 kid in Bluebell so her brother is forced to play with her." Cam put his hands in his pockets. "Of course, by forced, I meant happily obeys whatever the sister tells him to do."

I giggled at an image of Cam being dragged by a little girl popped in my head. He seemed the type that wouldn't know what to do around children.

"Seriously, sometimes he needs to realize that he's spoiling her."

We were in the middle of talking about Cam's interesting friend when we crossed the bridge near Mako's house. As usual, he was in his orchard tending his trees when I pointed to him for Cam.

"O-oh... I didn't expect him to be..."

"Scary? Intimidating? Un-botanist-like?" I assisted him in finding the right words.

"All of the above?"

"Don't worry," I chuckled, "my uncle may look scary but he has a kind heart especially towards children."

I heard Cam mutter something along the line of "I find it hard to believe" when I called out to Mako.

"Uncle! We have a visitor!" I shouted. Even though Mako had—putting it lightly—threatened me to call him by his name instead, I still refer to him as 'Uncle' in public. He was my uncle after all and I respected him. That, and the fact that he couldn't get mad at me in front of people was one of my ways of teasing him.

The second he turned around, Cam noticed the eye patch and I could see him flinch. As soon as Mako grinned and shook Cam's hand with all his might, only then did Cam relaxed. He explained how Mako reminded him of his adoptive father Howard that may seem intimidating at first but was, overall, a nice person.

I led Cam into the house and he was amazed by the amount of plants we had around the house. This academic year, my uncle had to work on this purple plant-eater sent from the city. Every time there was a new plant to study, Mako set up a few samples in my room for me to help give my own findings.

"Wow. So you have plants sent to _you_ for studies?" Cam exclaimed. "I had to go to the _city _to get my plants."

"Hah! Here's the trick: I give them compliment on their grand advantage. I tell them that they have better transportation equipment to keep the plants safe during the travel." Mako grinned with his chest out, appearing proud of himself.

"In truth, he's just a lazy old man." I quietly added. I had busied myself with preparing tea while the two men chatted away.

"I heard that, Reina! You better watch your back once the guest is gone."

Cam's expression became bewildered at what he just heard. I smacked my forehead with my palm. That certainly did not help Cam believe what I had said about my uncle. Cam's eyes were still wide with fear as he looked back and forth between Mako and I. When he was looking at me, I shook my head and mouthed: "it's not what you think," and gave a smile to assure him.

Mako dragged Cam deeper into his room to talk more about his plant-eater that I personally named: Ou, Kou, No, Mi, Yao, Na, Ki. A silly joke really. I was currently cooking okonomiyaki when the plants arrived and since it was one plant too many, I had to improvise. Ou and Kou were both in my room while the rest were in my uncle's room. When I talked to plants, I named them too. That was proof of how serious I am about this.

When I brought in the tea to the room, Cam was no longer intimidated and instead, he was in full concentration while discussing plant humidity in our house.

"How do you manage to keep them alive here? There's not much sun but-"

"Ah, perhaps my dear Reina didn't brief you with my research specialty?" Mako put his arm around my shoulder. I never liked it when he did that since his hand alone was pretty heavy let alone when he leaned towards me like what he soon did.

"I am a fertilizer specialist. I try to come up with a good fertilizers that will allow plants to grow without ..." he paused for effect while I groaned inwardly, "... the sunlight."

"Y-You can do that?" Cam suddenly saw my uncle in a different, more respectful way, just like how I did when I realized what Mako's recognition by the city campus.

"Look around you, kid." He opened his arms wide almost knocking off the tea. "Proof of my greatness."

Mako flashes his infamous grin again—infamous for scaring children away—while Cam stared at him in awe. His face looked like a little kid that I couldn't help but giggle. He noticed my giggle and immediately pulled down his hat to try to cover his blush.

"That's really, um, wonderful." He cleared his throat. "How did you come across this?"

Suddenly Mako roared with laughter. Cam flinched again but this time I quickly went in to save him. With one hand holding the tea tray, I used my free hand to pull him away from my uncle to my room. Bold move? Perhaps. But I wasn't really thinking at the time.

"Sorry. Here drink some tea. Assuming that Uncle Mako has been causing your heart to jump a lot, this will help." I let him take the cup and put the tray on my research table.

"Thanks. This is really nice. What is this?"

"Oh, just green tea. Everyone has this in Konohana." I noticed how we were both awkwardly standing here so I pulled up a chair and we both sat across each other. After another minute of awkward silence, I noticed how Cam was looking at me as if waiting for something.

"W-what?" I blushed.

"Oh, sorry. I assumed that you were going to tell me how your uncle came up with the whole fertilizer idea." He straightened his seat.

"R-right. I... That would be... but, um, it's actually kind of embarrassing." I covered my face with my hands because I knew I was blushing. To my surprise, Cam was laughing.

"Now I'm even more intrigued. Come on, tell me." He rested his chin against his intertwined fingers with his elbows resting on the table.

"It's... a coincidence really..." I stared at Cam and he was still intently staring at me. "Ugh, okay. See, when I was younger, I was a horrible cook. At times I would try to make dinner for Uncle Mako as a way for saying thank you for taking care of me. Needless to say, I burnt things and to hide it I threw it on the potted plants nearby."

Upon hearing this, Cam snorted. I glared at him and he quieted down before showing his serious face again. "And then?"

"Well...it happened often and Mako began to notice how the plants seemed to grow differently. Eventually I confessed and he began his study on ... failed dish fertilizer."

Again, I heard the roar of laughter downstairs and soon Cam also joined the laughter. I was now completely embarrassed and slightly hurt by the two. "Alright. That's it. Mako I'm cooking eggs for dinner!" My declaration was met with a few complaints by Mako and once he stopped his shouting Cam's laughter was the only thing left heard.

I glared at Cam. He wiped the tears on his eyes before raising his hands defensively. "Hey, I have no hatred with eggs whatsoever."

"I'll find your horror food sooner or later." I threatened him. Of course, Cam didn't seem slightly scared by me.

"You won't get that out of me." He challenged.

"Then I'll just have to snoop around Bluebell for clues." I took on his challenge.

"Go ahead, I'll look forward for your unavailing visit at my flower shop." He leaned against the table to intimidate me.

"You will. Whether you like it or not." I met his eyes with confidence.

The two of us unknowingly had a staring battle. I was better at not blinking but Cam seemed to be doing this with ease. At least that's what I thought until he grinned and blinked. I won!

"You're really are something, Reina."

I felt my heart skipped a beat. "W-why?"

"I never expected you to be ... actually quite approachable."

"And I you." I nodded in response.

"Anyway, I should head back. Don't want to lose track of time like yesterday." Cam was making his way towards the stairs and I stood up following him. I didn't want us to part yet so I offered to accompany him to the gate. Cam kindly agreed.

After making promises with Mako to return—to my delight—we set foot towards the gate. When we arrived at there, I noticed Lilian exiting from Sheng's house with a hammer on her head. She thanked Sheng and, when she saw us, came running closer.

"Cam! Was Reina giving you tour of Konohana?"

"Something like that. What were you up to?"

Lilian showed off her new hammer to us. Apparently a girl named Eileen came by her house to inform her about farm expansions. The hammer was a necessary tool to make material stones for the expansions and Sheng happened to post a request providing one just this morning. Some things just seemed too suspicious to be called 'coincidence' but I wasn't one to ponder about them.

"Well, I'm off to smash some more rocks! I recalled Howard requesting some for his leakage problem or something. Wanna hitch a ride?" Lilian asked to Cam.

I knew she meant well and that it was for the convenience of Cam but for some reason I resented the offer. Lilian was smiling as cheerful as ever to Cam and affected by it, Cam smiled too.

"That's very sweet of you Lilian. I'll take you on that offer."

As Cam was contemplating on where to sit, I chimed in. "You should sit on the cart." It was too loud that it almost sounded like a shout than a normal suggestion. The two stared at me in shock.

"Your horse might feel better...than if the two of you rode it together." I finished, this time, in a calmer manner.

"I was thinking of that myself." Cam agreed and positioned himself on the cart. When I saw how close the two were, I couldn't stop myself from calling out to him.

"Yeah?" Cam asked.

"Um, will it really be okay...if I come visit you again...in your flower shop?" My hands were clutching part of my clothes so tight out of nervousness that it caused creases to appear.

"Sure. You and Lilian are welcome to visit me. We should visit each other more often."

Again, my heart felt heavy and my lips felt unwilling to smile back at Cam's kind smile. Not even after Cam said "see you tomorrow" to me. I was happy that he said that, meaning that he enjoyed my company, but the fact that Lilian was also invited balanced it out to a zero sum.

It took me a while before I finally found the energy to move away from the gate. I walked past the request board and turned right to the place I knew I could cry to: Nori's kimono. At this time, she was outside by her garden and upon seeing me, her knowing smile soon disappeared; replaced by a concerned look.

Quietly, she led me to Yun's Tea House and we sat at the balcony outside for better privacy.

"I saw you walking with Cam. I assumed you'd be happy." She commented while sipping the warm tea prepared by Yun.

I was gloomily looking down at my own tea cup wrapped around my fingers. "I was..." I mumbled. "Until Lilian came along."

Nori giggled. "Ah, another jealousy?"

"This time it's different. I could almost say that I hated her when Cam ... acknowledged her more than what I wanted him to." I pushed my tea aside and buried my face in my arms as I bent over the table.

"Love...changes people." I heard Nori say as she gently began to rub my head.

"And I'm turning into a horrible person." My voice was slightly muffled when I talked. My heart still ached and I felt like crying for many different reasons.

"It is tough. But you'll get over it." I could hear Nori smiling from her voice. I knew she was trying to console me but her cheery attitude was starting to bug me. I lifted my head to face her.

"What if I don't? What if I end up becoming this... this horrible ... hateful person, to a girl I barely know _because _of a guy I barely know?" The jumbled up feeling and fear within me made my eyes tear up. My voice was also becoming wobbly from trying to hold back the tears.

"Aw, don't worry Reina. You won't become like that. Trust me."

Even to this point, Nori was still smiling. I felt like such a horrible person yet there she was being the most graceful and kind person that it pained me to admit that I was steering my anger towards her. I slammed my hand on the table in frustration.

"You don't understand! I'm not as sweet as you that I can just... smile and say it's fine-you're not ME! So you don't know how I feel, Nori!" My breathing was heavy and shaky. I could just break down and cry right that moment if Nori hadn't done what she did then.

_SLAP_

She slapped me. With her kind smile attached to her face, she slapped me.

I was shocked, and as I put my hand over my stinging cheek, I stared at her. Nori sat back down from her half-standing position and cleared her throat. She seemed to contemplate something and when she noticed how intently I was staring at her, she smiled again.

"Sorry, I didn't know how else to stop you from shouting. Ying might hear, poor child. We can have Hiro ice it later. Speaking of Hiro..." Nori erased her smile and looked at me straight in the eye. After a few seconds, she finally exhaled and shrugged.

"Well, I guess there's no use pretending. You knew half of me anyway." She leaned back and, this time, smiled a different kind of smile. "Reina, as my closest friend, let me tell you something I've been keeping to myself this whole time."

I sat there dumbfounded, as Nori shared her own heartache.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So there's chapter 4 :) Thanks for all the reviews **Royal**, **waitin'on'a'white'horse98**, **Charlyatt**, **Lollipopdiego**, **HMWarriorsLife10**, **Iseki**, **Strikey-Chan**, **DuchessPinkcat**, and **Hatter**. And those who put my story in the follow list: **megnyan**, **Castor Black**, and **Madlib Hatter**.  
Yeah, just thought I should let you know I appreciate the attention you put on this story :)

I've had a few problems writing this chapter because I wasn't sure if the way Reina and Cam talks was still how they would talk. Also, I'm not sure if it's noticeable, but I sort of kept myself from writing too much dialog and tried to cut it short and describe things instead. I felt like if I kept going with dialog too long, it might get boring and felt unnecessary.

This chapter might feel like it has a fast change of emotion.. I kinda felt that, but.. I've been keeping things slow for the past chapter, and I wanted to speed things up a bit in regards to Nori and Reina's relationships. Was it too sudden? Was it okay? Let me know!

Also, I always intended to write Reina to be far from perfect to be more believable and/or relate-able. She's insecure, gets jealous and gets angry from time to time. I hope you guys like the way I interpret her. Despite that, I still love Reina and I want to hug her in hope it'll cheer her up when she gets worked up like that.

I'll be pairing up another couple on the next chapter, you can probably guess who..

Hope you enjoy this!


	5. Friendship

My initial opinion of Nori was that she was one of those "too nice for comfort" type of people. She had been so welcoming to me with that smile plastered on her face every time she greeted me that it felt fake to me. It so happened that during one of the Moongazing festival, Kana left with his horse causing a great ruckus that ended up making Hiro the victim of Ayame's intensive care.

Mayor Ina was the scariest person in town—besides Mako—that I imagined would scold him to the death but, to my surprise, it was Nori who was going at Kana. Seeing her angry for the first time made me think that she was human after all, despite her outstanding patience and kindness. At the time, I assumed that the anger came from her motherly instinct. Now, I understood.

"I like Hiro."

The tea that sat forgotten suddenly became appealing to me to clear the clump in my throat. "S-since when?"

Nori placed a finger on her chin while thinking of the answer. "Since ... a loooong time ago." I could see from her expression that she was fondly recalling her memory.

"I had a minor injury once and I went to the clinic to find Hiro all alone there. He tended my wound and I told him he was getting better. He blushed." She giggled. "It was so adorable! When I told him I'd go to him the next time I get hurt, you know what he said?"

With lips parted slightly, I shook my head.

"He said he'd rather not see me hurt at all." Nori closed her eyes as she touched her flushing cheeks. "After that, I just started to pay attention to him. We'd converse more during the check-ups he did for Gombe, I'd sometimes accompany him during his day off by the river and I'd choose a place near him during festivals. I've been doing this secretly hoping that he'd like me back but..." Nori sighed, her brows furrowed. "He just treats me like another ... patient."

I chuckled. "Yeah, the only person he acts differently with is Kana. He always wanted to be like Kana."

"But I like him the way he is." Nori strongly stated. "He's perfect the way he is now."

"...yeah..." I cautiously responded. "So what does this have to do with my situation?"

"Regarding jealousy," Nori straightened her seat. "I also feel them."

"With Kana?" I joked.

"No. With...Ayame." She bit her lip with her head tilted as if embarrassed of that fact. "I know she's his mentor and there's no way they would... but... I just couldn't help but think things." Nori's long black hair fell forward that it covered parts of her face. I could see that she was about to cry just like I was earlier.

"And then Lilian showed up. She... She's so bubbly I couldn't compete with her." Her voice sounded bitter.

I was shocked that Nori, of all people, would think that. "What are you talking about? Nori, you're the most cheerful, happiest girl I've ever—"

"We're both farmers, Reina, and let's face it, it's a tiring job yet she still has the energy to go around _greeting everybody_ even after 9 PM!" Nori shot me a look that shut me up. "And she doesn't just water her plants, nooo, she brushes her cow, feeds her chicken, and, and she dares go around with a smile on her face as if ..." Nori's eyes began to swell up with tears; her clenched fist trembled by the force she was applying.

I reached my hand to hold hers. She took it and squeezed it tight.

"She talks to Hiro on his day off. I don't know what they talk about but once they're done, he'll just go back to the clinic without even greeting me anymore." Her voice began to tremble, "And last time, I ... I saw him blush. I thought he only did that with me."

Nori bit the end of her sleeve and began to cry silently. The sight of her shoulders that shook with every quiet sobs was enough to bring tears to my own eyes. Soon, the two of us cried together in silence. I bit my lips to keep myself from bawling and I let teardrops mix into the tea that had gotten cold. I was no longer crying for myself. I was crying for Nori; for her pain that had endured far longer than I had. It was selfish of me to be thinking about myself when my closest friend was the one in need of a shoulder to cry on.

Suddenly Nori's shaking began to grow more violently. She was letting out sob noises and it was getting louder until she finally let go of my hand and, with her head thrown back, she began to laugh.

Tears were still running down my eyes when I stared at Nori who was already wiping her eyes with her sleeves.

"Oh Reina. You're such a good friend. I feel so much better now." The usual smile returned to Nori's place.

"O-okay..."

"Did you know crying is good for you? It's much better to let things out than keep things in." She stood up and walked inside the tea house. I ran after her to see her talking to Yun by the cashier.

"Sorry we couldn't finish the tea Yun."

"It's okay." With an understanding look, Yun nodded and reached over to gently touch Nori's cheeks. "You're always welcome here."

Nothing made me feel like a complete idiot than realizing how Nori had often come here to cry about Hiro. Nori noticed my guilt from the way I was looking at her and, without words, she simply held my hand and squeezed it lightly. She was indeed a great friend.

* * *

**AN: **

Sorry that this chapter is short. I was taking a while to update the scene after this that I decided to just post Nori and Reina's scene. I really hope you like this chapter because I feel that my description and story flow weren't very good. Constructive criticism is welcomed :)

So, here's my attempt to a sort-of canon coupling: NorixHiro. Nori may seem a bit out of character, but I was planning on giving HM characters a "deeper" personality than what's often portrayed in the game. I haven't seen it personally, but I've read some of Nori's heart events to know that she does get mad and upset.

Also, **Buttersketch**, I changed Mako's dialog in chapter 1 to "Rice balls again" according to your advice. Thanks for that!

And thank you all who reviewed :) You make me happy!

PS: I'm still thinking on whether or not to pair Lilian up with someone.. Any thoughts on that? If yes, who do you think she should be with? Should I make a poll? Should I stop asking question and just write what my heart tells me? Or should I just shut up and work on my next chapter? :p


	6. Relationship Gone Sour

It was another day off and I had new reports I'd like to show to Cam. He hadn't shown up to the house ever since his last visit and I was slightly worried. I began to think that maybe Cam was just being polite and that he didn't really want to come by or that he was too busy with his flower shop that he didn't have time to visit or perhaps he was sick. With so many possible reasons as to why Cam didn't show, I decided to go check on him instead. What greeted me in Bluebell did not boost my confidence at all. Cam was busy talking with Lillian not by his flower shop but instead they were talking by the flower bush. Lillian said something that made Cam smiled and the two soon laughed together.

They seemed like they were having a good time and somewhat hurt by the sight I turned around. There was nothing more for me to do there so I was heading back to Konohana or at least the mountain to clear my mind when someone called my name. His voice didn't sound familiar but I hadn't really met anyone here except for Georgia and Laney. Quietly, I turned to look at the one who addressed me. He was a man not much different from how Cam dressed with a similar hat and straps on his shirt. It wasn't a Konohana outfit that was sure.

"You're Reina right?" The boy asked with a child-like smile.

"Yes? How may I help you?" I didn't think anyone in this town really needed a botanist' help. Surely not this guy?

"Oh, nothing. I just thought I should introduce myself. My name's Ash. My family owns the ranch over there." Ash pointed at the house across Georgia's and I could see a pasture behind the house with moos and baas resounding from there.

"Well... nice to meet you Ash. If you don't need anything else from me, I'll be heading back to my work." I didn't see any point to chat longer with the boy since it was obvious that we worked in different fields. I started to turn back to where the mountain entrance was but Ash stopped me once more.

"Uhh.. do you think they like each other?"

"Excuse me?" Now this was intriguing.

"Lillian and Cam, I mean. Lillian drops by a lot to chat with him. Of course she chats with everyone, really, but ..." Ash scratched the back of his head looking a bit embarrassed that he brought this topic up with me, a complete stranger. Now, if I hadn't had a revelation that I was attracted to Cam, I would dismiss this thought as irrelevant but now I could clearly see that Ash seemed to fancy Lillian.

"I can't really say. In any case, it's too soon to jump into conclusion that anyone likes someone. Even with you. Are you sure you like her?"

His reaction was similar to mine when Nori told me I was in love with Cam. I couldn't help but smile when I recalled that moment.  
"Don't worry. I won't tell. In fact..." An idea suddenly occurred to me that if Lillian were to return Ash's feelings, I wouldn't have to worry about having Lillian liking Cam. "...if you need me to help you with anything Lillian-wise, I'd be happy to assist."

"R-really? Thank you! Remind me to give you some fresh milk from my farm next time I see you as a thanks." Ash appeared even more ecstatic, moving up and down in a bubbly way. He was sure a kind of person who could bring a smile to one's face.

"Uhh.. that won't be necessary but thanks for the offer. I'll ... see you around then?"

This time, Ash didn't try to stop me. He was probably too preoccupied with figuring out what sort of favor he could ask me to do. I managed to escape from Bluebell without anyone stopping me anymore. At least that was what I thought when I heard a rustling behind the bush. I ignored it at first, of course, but not long after I heard footsteps following me. It moved when I moved and stopped when I stopped. Finally tired of the little game, I turned around and saw a little girl with pigtails. Red ribbons adorned her hairstyle, a plaid pattern like everyone's head dressing. Perhaps there was a dress code in Bluebell that I wasn't aware of.

"And you are?" I inquired. The little girl looked surprised that I managed to notice her following me. She took a defensive stance and pointed her tiny finger at me.

"I don't need to tell you my name! Just know that I am Ash's little sister who will always protect him from people like you. I have my eyes on you!" She threatened before rushing back to Bluebell. I was left frozen there for a while, digesting what had happened. Honestly, I pity Ash and his future wife to be. Now I understand why he was thankful of me wanting to help him.

* * *

"I may have made an enemy." I was sitting at the table outside of Yun's tea house with Nori during her day off eating one of Yun's great dessert. Nori graced me with one of her sweet laughter.

"She sounds really adorable though. If I were to have a brother I would probably think the world of him too."

"There's a fine line before being overprotective and being a cute little sister. I think she's the former." I ignored Nori's attempt to defend the little girl.

"Oh come on. I'm sure she's the cute little sister one."

"Really?" I placed my elbow on the table and leaned closer to Nori. "The other day, Dirk delivered an anonymous gift containing a dead bug. Good thing I wasn't afraid of them otherwise I'd be looking for her for revenge." Nori was about to laugh again but I stopped her. "I'm not done. Apparently, she's been posting requests for Lillian to collect those bugs and she even told Lillian that she wanted to protect her brother from girls. She's a sneaky girl. I'm telling you."

"Sneaky like you? Trying to help Ash swoop Lillian's feet so you can place yourself beside Cam?" Nori teased.

"That's... different. I'm just doing it for Ash's happiness." I started to blush knowing that what Nori said as true.

"Sneaky little Reina. Sneaky sneaky..." Nori started to tease me even more.

"Oh come on Nori. Lillian doesn't mind it either whenever I ask her things and put in a few good words for Ash."

"There once was a girl named Reinaaaa who was a sneaky sneaky giiirl.." Nori wasn't listening to me anymore and instead she started singing some made up song about me. I laughed at her silliness and got up to head to the forest again. Based on my calculation, the plant I'd been observing should bloom by now.

"I'm leaving now. Since you've lost interest in having a decent conversation."

"Sneaaaky little Reinaa.. went of to the woods..." she still continued.

"Okbye..."

By the time I entered the mountain I was already humming Nori's silly tune. I had to admit that it was a catchy tune but... darn it Nori why did it have to be about me? When I arrived at my usual spot, I was greeted by something new. It was the plant! At least I assumed it was. The leaf was the same shape and the position of it was the same. The only difference was that there was a bud. It was a flower after all!

I pulled out my notebook getting ready to jot down any new development along with the new sketch I was able to make. My head was filled with facts and observation points when I suddenly thought that this was a great reason to meet Cam! Surely he would be interested in my new findings.

Eager to meet him, I rushed across the mountain and when I was by Bluebell's low mountain area I saw Cam crouching on the ground with his back against me. He was busy mumbling something that he didn't realize I was already beside him when I said hi. That caused a jump.

"Ahh! Re-reina? What are you doing here?" he put his hand on his heart, clearly not expecting to see me. A thought creeped into my mind thinking that he wouldn't be this surprised if it was Lillian who came by.

"I have news about the plant I was observing. I thought you'd want to know, what are you doing?" Curiosity got the best of me and I bent my body to try to see what Cam got hidden under his arm. It didn't take me long to figure out that he was hiding a cat! A kitten to be exact.

"My she's adorable..." was my reaction when our eyes met. It's little whiskers, it's little meows was to die for.

"Isn't she? I found her around here when I was going on break. I think she's hungry." Cam's face shone brightly upon realizing that I wasn't judging him for hanging out with the cat. Then again, what's so weird about that?

"Hmm.. I don't think I have anything cat-edible with me." I said, searching my pockets for anything edible. "In fact, I have nothing edible at all."

"Well, I was actually thinking of catching some fresh fish from the river but the cat kept following me so it's kinda hard to do both. Hey, do you think you can help me catch a fish?" Cam looked up; hopeful.

Okay. One thing he did not know about me was that I _couldn't stand _slimy things, _especially _fish. In fact any animals that deals with water covered in slime was my all-time weakness. Throw me some dead bugs and I'll throw it back at you bare handed but throw me a fish, my head will reach the floor even before the fish reached me. Of course, I couldn't possibly told Cam that. He'd think I'm weak! So I simply stood there for a while, unsure what to do. He must've noticed how pale I suddenly turned.

"Uh... what... what about if I stay with the cat instead... I mean, I ... can't really ... swim. Water... the water's a bit cold and, uh, if I get wet it'll be a long way home compared to if you were the one that catches the fish, right?" I managed an awkward chuckle at the end. My excuse sort of made sense. I would have to cross the mountain to get home while Cam could simply walk home. Good thing Cam saw some sense in the reason as well which was why he handed the kitten to me before pulling up his pants to wade to the water.

So there I was, petting a kitten while watching Cam from afar attempting to catch a fish and failing quite badly as well. Things were popping in my head and one of them accidentally got said outloud.

"Why haven't you visited me in Konohana? Do you hate me?" I said in almost a whisper.

That caught Cam's attention even though he was far away. He didn't seem to hear what I exactly said but he noticed my tone of voice. "Are you okay Reina?"

"Ah, nothing. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." I tried to lie but he didn't look satisfied with my answer. In fact, I might have offended him or something.

"Look, if you don't want to be here it's fine. You don't have to force yourself if you hate it." Cam sounded mad and annoyed which meant that he must've misheard what I said. Unfortunately he caught the word "hate" although in a very different context.

"No! I didn't say I hate it here. I was…" there was no way I could tell him I was wondering if he hated me so instead I got up and walk towards the river. "L-let's switch place. I'll get you the fish. J-just stay with the cat instead."

It was a desperate move. I wanted to show Cam I didn't hate him or this situation so I foolishly entered the river. In my haste, I slipped forward and brought Cam splashing down with me. He was on his elbows by the time I realized the position I was in. To my horror, there was a fish swimming idly right next to him. I immediately paled.

Cam, who was showing concern, reached to touch my hand but because I thought it was a fish that was swimming past me, I slapped it away while screaming in the process.

The hurtful look that the handsome florist gave me was etched to my heart for a very long time after that. My attempt to show that I enjoyed being with him backfired.

"Next time, don't bother coming here if you don't like being with me." Were his last words to me before he disappeared behind Bluebell's gate with the hungry kitten.

My notebook was drenched in water so most of my writings were faded away. I had to rewrite the whole thing in a new notebook, which allowed me to not think about what had happened in Bluebell. I hated myself for having an unreasonable fright of fish. Now Cam hated me even more without a chance for me to explain. After the incident, I did visit his shop to buy some seed but he treated me like a normal customer. He didn't even smile.

Ash noticed this and could only smile encouragingly. In fact, he gave me quite an idea to solve my fear of fish and even though I didn't like to do it I finally stopped making excuses and posted a request form in Konohana. The topic of request: Summoning Courage.

* * *

**AN: **

Yaaayyy! Another chapter!

I'm so sorry that it took me a long time to write this :) And I'm thankful that you're still waiting on the update, heheh. Thanks for those of you who reviewed, listed this story as a favorite, followed this story and many many more!

I'm gonna warn you.. I'm planning to take this story quite slow... Getting Reina and Cam together ain't going to be easy just as how getting Lillian and Cam isn't easy in the game. We need to give him gifts, go on dates, answer the right questions, etc. But I pretty much have the story line set. Maybe I'll change a few things if I need to.

Oh, and Ash is here! He's not showing up as much as I wanted him to but at least he's now introduced to the story. What you guys think?

You probably noticed that I tend to use a lot of what the in-game information gives in this story just to make things feel more real with a mix of my own reality. How'd you like the fish thing, eh? Hahahah.. I figured there was a reason why Reina wanted to relieve her fear of fish. Here's my take on that theory :)

Btw, did you notice I put up a cover for this story? Nothing fancy but it's better than nothing, right?

So yeah... that's all I can think of. Thanks for reading!


	7. Playing a Sour Melody

"G-get it away from me! No! No! Stay away!"

"But Reina, you asked for this."

No matter how many times I posted the request and no matter how many times Lillian presented me with that box filled with _you-know-what,_ I would always keep the items inside the closed box without even bothering to get a good look at it. I had to give Lillian credit for sticking around despite my frantic screaming. She really was a good person.

"Okay okay.. you're right. I … have to deal with this. But keep it there! I'll … slowly walk to it myself." I kept my hand forward to give myself a sense of protection from the box. The lid was not sealed properly so I could smell the fishy scent. I had particularly asked for crabs for today's request. At least crabs weren't as slimy and less "staring at you with its round lidless eyes" compared to the fishes. Don't even get me started about frogs.

"You can do it Reina! You've made such a great progress already!" the farmer cheered as I slowly lifted the lid open.

"Hmph, if by progress you mean not throwing the box away after you handed it to me. Sorry about that."

Lillian laughed at the memory of me throwing the box from my room window that caused the fish to be thrown out, flapping helplessly in search for water. The sight gave me nightmares for several days that I had my uncle move my mattress to his room just so I knew there would be someone there to help me fend off the fishes.

This time though, I was determined to at least _touch_ the shell of the crabs. Yeah, what high goals that I set myself with. I distracted myself by listing down the core parts of what made a great fertilizer that my uncle had submitted for his thesis. I found that trying to think of things unrelated to my fears helped calm my nerve and by the time I recited the last particle, my finger pressed a hard material that wasn't the box.

"Reina! You did it!" Lillian who was paying attention to my finger more than what I was distracting myself with, made me look inside the box and although the sight still repulsed me, I did smile at my success. Tired of all the tension, I exhaled and fell to the floor.

"Thanks Lil. Next up, touching the fish." I said, looking up to her as she took the box away. She promised me dinner using the crab if I managed to gain progress today. So off she went to the kitchen while I washed my hands furiously from the shell sensation. It wasn't bad actually. Perhaps I would be able to clear away my fear with Lillian's help eventually.

Mako was already waiting downstairs when I joined them at the kitchen/dining area. He made sure Lillian didn't put any eggs in the dish before preparing some tea for us to enjoy after the meal. I set up the plates and once the dinner was cooked, we all joined at the table to eat tom yum soup, as Lillian called it.

Dinner was delicious! Although our conversation was mostly stirred by Mako who constantly tried to discuss his fertilizer, we did manage to chip in some non-plant related conversation about the two towns and the tunnel. Apparently Lillian had the carpenter at Bluebell help restore the tunnel so that we could pass there again. It would surely help shorten my trip if I were to visit Cam in his shop.

"The carpenter's really good but she_ does _have her own way of working. Oh! Sort of like how Sheng works! Only l was able to _see _how she works with my own eyes. Believe me it is never pretty." Lillian explained over dinner. "Still, she does get the job done really quickly."

We began to wonder what Sheng did in his shop when he upgraded Lillian's tool. I went with her once to wait for her to upgrade her watering can and it did sound pretty professionally scary in there. He even managed to scare away the animals that were nearby! I had a feeling that the two would make great friends, if not, partners of some sorts.

I offered to see Lillian off at least up until the entrance to the mountain since she moved to Bluebell this season. Apparently Bluebell had a bigger barn for her animals and since winter was coming, stacking up on milk and wool coats was a pretty good business. She still visited Konohana to tend to her crops. Man, that girl worked hard.

"Your uncle is really funny. He really doesn't talk about anything other than fertilizers, huh?" Lillian said as we walked side by side.

"He does that to other people for some reason, but he talks some serious things with me."

"Really? Like what?"

"Like… well, me starting a family, me moving on with my plant obsessed life, his role as an uncle and guardian for me, stuff like that."

"Huh. Makes me wonder how you two get to be so close like this. What does your parents say about you hanging out with your uncle like this?"

The topic of my parent made me think for a bit. Somehow we managed to avoid that topic until tonight. No matter how close knit the Konohanas were, nobody really talk about their private life openly unless you're really close to them. I considered my options and decided to let Lillian know something about myself.

"Not sure. I don't exactly know them. All I know is that I was raised by my grandparents only to grow up following the footsteps of the person who saved my life when I was a baby. He lost an eye because of that." I explained nonchalantly.

I could see Lillian trying to piece the information together and slowly came to a conclusion. "So… your uncle…wait."

"Yup. He never really told me _why _he lost his eye but the story that I was told is that he found me, gave me to my grandparents to be raised. He's not particularly happy at first when I decided to follow him here but he came around pretty soon afterwards. He was probably lonely here which is why he let me stay." I smiled, recalling the good 'ol memory. "I completely understand why people would be afraid of him the first time they see him. I was too."

The story made Lillian curious and she did ask more questions about Mako; mostly things I was unable to answer. At the end of the casual walk, we managed to share stories of our past; how Lillian decided to start a life as a farmer, why I decided to be a botanist. We pretty much covered the basics of being a good friend which saddened me because I began to understand how every guy would like her as a person.

"Well, it was fun chatting with you. You better hurry home and rest, Lil." I told her before we said our goodbyes for the night.

* * *

There was a buzz in Konohana that morning since the music festival was starting soon performed by the new musician in town. I didn't really know the guy very well and since we change performers every year I stopped trying to be friends with them. This time however, was different. Nori informed me that Mikhail—that's the musician's name—was going to stay here for at least 3 seasons.

"If you're giving up on that botanist, you might be into him since he likes to spend time with nature." My bestfriend said while we were waiting in town hall for the festival to start.

"What are you on about? I don't just fall for guys who like nature. There's a specific … category they need to fit into." I whispered back my reply, not wanting people to hear our conversation.

"Like, being blond and from the other side of the town that our mayor is enemies with. Oh your story is such a tragedy-based novel like this 'Romeo and Juliet' book I once borrowed from Town Hall. They were in love but their family were sworn enemies and the two of them wound up dead. The end."

"… Wow thanks for the support there, friend. Let's not forget that _my _Romeo isn't talking to me." I commented sarcastically.

"True. That and the fact you guys didn't fall in love and die within.. what was it… days? Weeks?"

"Seriously, that quick?" I asked, surprised at how fast the story flowed. Nori nodded her answer quietly and focused her attention to the stage.

The Mikhail person was up there holding a violin, accompanied by a girl we usually see during music festival. She was playing the piano, as usual, and soon the music started flowing and the violin started playing. It was a beautiful and soothing piece that surely managed to entertain everybody. I even suspected a tear drop from Mako's eye at some point. I could be wrong.

Everybody didn't want the festival to end but eventually Mikhail stopped moving his bow and took a bow. Hah… Bow… bow… People clapped, expressing their admiration before exiting Town Hall to resume their typical daily life. I could hear people chatting and commenting about the satisfying festival they had. I saw Mikhail shaking hands with Mayor Ina before heading back to his room.

…

…

Okay, after standing in place for quite a while, I finally decided to compliment his performance before the day ended. Personally. I knocked on the door and the white-haired man answered.

"Hey, uh. Yeah. Great job out there. It's good to have you playing with us—for us… today." I said, awkwardly. "So… keep up the good work." Without waiting for his reply, I left town hall and returned to my house. Why I decided to make a fool of myself I wasn't sure of it. At least I could say that I was no longer afraid to start up a conversation with a stranger.

* * *

I was partly expecting that I wouldn't have to face the musician until at least a week after my embarrassing compliment attempt allowing him to forget about it, but my luck was just horrible. I met him the next day; both of us on our way to the mountain. Nori's information was true. He really did enjoy the nature based on his peaceful expression that he put on while being in the mountain.

I was sitting on my usual spot with my plant friend, trying my best not to be seen or noticed by him but, again, did I mention my luck was horrible? The musician noticed me and made his way up the slope.

"Good morning. I didn't catch your name last night after you complimented me." He said ever so politely.

"Morning. I'm Reina, the botanist here." I said, gesturing at the plant and not bothering to stand up to shake his hand since he didn't offer to.

"Ah, lovely to meet you Reina. I hope you won't mind too much listening to me practicing my music around here." He said, lifting up his violin for me to see.

"I … don't see why not." I shook my head, "bye?"

So I wasn't proud of my social skill, but Mikhail didn't seem to mind my dismissal and continued up the mountain. I wondered to myself if he was going to go to Bluebell or if he was just going to find a spot to play. Either way, I was intrigued and I soon left my own spot to look for him.

He was telling the truth when he said he was going to play music there. Not far from the peak of the mountain, I could hear violin notes being played. He had his eyes closed during his solo performance so I waited until he finished before approaching him. I clapped, of course, to show my appreciation for his music.

"That was lovely. Why didn't you play that during the festival?"

"If I played everything I can offer, you won't call me again next year." He replied, smiling causing me to smile as well.

"True. True… Say, have you been to Bluebell yet?"

Mikhail raised his eyebrows questioningly. "I guess not." I concluded. "It's really just another town on the other side of the mountain. They have a pretty nice view and … style that's different from Konohana. Perhaps you'll find some … inspiration or something by visiting the town."

I wasn't sure why I was being a Lillian (if I was allowed to use her name as verb) but I wanted an excuse to visit Bluebell and if having to get out of my comfort zone and be a tour guide, then I'd do it.

"Sounds interesting. Lead the way then."

Taking up my offer, Mikhail soon followed me scaling down the mountain. We saw a few dragonflies as we walked down and saw two of the exotic triplets crossing the mountain to see their brother. We chatted for a bit, mostly about them wanting to make money, before we continued to the entrance of Bluebell. I hadn't visited Bluebell ever since Summer left us came so I was shocked by the sight. The fall colored trees was breathtaking. I had a feeling Mikhail also enjoyed it.

We ended up visiting the church area, admiring the beauty quietly. Mikhail was a fun person to hang around with since he, like me, tend to not talk a lot and simply enjoyed the silence. Out of nowhere, he began to play his violin so I sat on the bench and started to admire his music until I saw someone in the corner of my eyes. The person saw me too.

"Reina? What are you doing there?" Cam's voice was just as clear and beautiful as I recall. His expression didn't seem mad and cold, more like confused and baffled.

"Uh, I was… where are _you _going? Shouldn't it be your working day today?" I asked him a question back, suddenly feeling like I needed to defend myself for hanging out with Mikhail. It was my idea in the first place but I didn't expect to be caught _enjoying _my time with another man by the man I love!

"I'm on my way to Lillian's house when I heard some music. Who is he? Who are you, sir?" he continued to walk up the stairs, distracting Mikhail from his playing.

"Sorry. My name is Mikhail. I'm a musician currently staying in Konohana. Miss Reina is showing me around Bluebell since she believed it would give me some inspiration and it seems like she succeeded." Mikhail nodded to me in thanks, causing Cam to frown.

I could be standing there making a theory as to why Cam was frowning but I was too preoccupied being jealous after hearing that Cam was _on his way to Lillian's house_. Good to know he actually did visit houses in his own accord. Hint, hint my sarcasm.

"Yes. I was amazed at his playing yesterday during _our _music festival so I decided to help him with his work." I chimed in before Cam could reply. _'Unlike the help that I __don't__ get from you, Cam!' _

I was being weird. I was trying to make Cam jealous by purposefully placing myself close to Mikhail. The kind of close that was not normal for me or for two strangers in general. I even placed my hand on Mikhail's arm! What was Cam turning me into?!

Cam's frown didn't go away as he stared at where I placed my hand. "Uh-huh. Well… I hope you two have fun then. It's actually quite appropriate considering you're in front of a church."

That was his last remark before he left me dumbfounded. '_What the heck was that last line supposed to mean?! Was he trying to imply something?'_ I didn't realize that my hold on Mikhail's arm was getting stronger from anger or whatever emotion I was feeling. Mikhail's voice broke my thoughts.

"I sense… a sour melody coming from you." He said before he started playing the said sour melody. It was sad filled with half step notes that felt out of place seeing that we were in the middle of serenity and beauty.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know what came at me." I didn't feel like explaining my love story to Mikhail and he didn't really ask. I was starting to like him even more for his silence. His music was the one that did the talking for him when it started to change into a soothing tone as if trying to console me.

"Don't be. Thanks to you I managed to get plenty of inspiration. However … eventful this day had become, I think it's best that we head home now before things get even more sour." He said after finishing his violin monologue piece.

We walked home in silence until the time where we part ways; him going to the town hall, me going back to Mako's house. My sour heart didn't go away that easily even after Mikhail's attempt to cheer me up. To be honest I felt slightly betrayed by Lillian but at the same time, it was my fault for not telling her my feelings for Cam. Then again, was it too late? Was Lillian together with Cam now?

Knowing the kind of person that Lillian was, I feared the fact that she would be trying to help me get together with Cam in a super obvious way that would repulse Cam. There was still some misunderstanding that needed to be cleared between us and having Lillian meddle in between probably would not help. I needed advice and quick.

"Ugh… Nori's going to hate me."

* * *

**AN:**

Whoah! A faster update from last chapter! What can I say? When inspiration strikes, it strikes me so bad I can't sleep before finishing a whole chapter. It's 3.30 AM and I need to wake up for work in... 3 hours or less.

So here you are. Another chapter. I took liberty to create my own version of Reina's past. I did have an idea of why Mako started wearing an eye patch (also planning it to be a loose one shot for a MakoxAyame story) ... but who knows when that'll be done. It's just an idea that I would do after I finish this CamxReina story.

I also brought in Mikhail to the stage! *cheers for Mikhail* Personally, as a ToTT gamer, I hadn't spend a lot of time with him to know how his personality really works since I tend to miss him completely on some days when I work on traveling between Bluebell and Konohana. I had seen (and read transcripts) his heart events though. Hopefully that'd be suffice to get a feel of him. Then again, I don't really copy paste a character into this story. Hmmm... In any case, I hope I didn't disappoint any Mikhail lover out there.

...what else... yeah, I'll start to mix in-game event into the story that won't necessarily be the correct timing/day/date/character involved/etc ... just so that the story will make sense. Idk why I need to explain that but I do like it when the story fits close to the game as possible. Meh.. maybe it's just me.

Again, thanks guys for still sticking around for this story :) I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Thanks for the reviews as well!

Hugs and kisses!


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